PUT YOUR INTERESTING IDEAS HERE
INTERESTING IDEA & WHY IT'S INTERESTING TO ME
Well I am fascinated with the effect that the virtual world is having on us and how the virtual and the real help eachother. The Virtual world has the ability to makes us reflect upon ourselves. In Virtual Worlds such as Second Life the individual is able to tweak and perfect their avatar, the virtual representation of themselves, as well as they are able to perfect the environment they are interacting in. So, with the ability to do this, the virtual world has the ability to be "perfect" or even better than reality. This has the potential to cause the user to reflect on their own real life, stiving to tweak it and perfect it just as they do with their virtual selves. Since the virtual world is so "perfect", many people would be inclined to attempt to make reality just as good. One woman from the documentary said that we realize what we are missing in the real when using the virtual.
Also I found it interesting that are brains are not yet trained to differentiate between reality and fiction (virtual). Which makes a lot of sense when we consider how much power our minds have over our bodies. In one of the clips, they were conducting an experiment examining the differences with how we react to virtual experiences verses real experiences and they found that when they simulated someone watching themselves eat in a virtual world they felt full, or sick, etc. and they concluded that if it looks real, feels real, smells real, then our brain tells us it is real. So not only can we "tell ourselves" that we are full and have already eaten (even when we haven't) but we can also create memories that we have never physically have. So with these virtual experiences that we are having on the internet in virtual civilizations such as Second Life, and conversations we have on the internet, and bascially everything we do in the virtual world becomes real in our minds and becomes a piece of our personality, character, and memory. We exist just as much in the virtual world as we do in the real world. It is real because it is real in our minds. -Alix
I think it is crazy how people cna get addicted to the internet and technology. I watched a couple videos on people saying online gaming ruined their life. THey became addicted and felt they were'nt doing anything with their lives. One guy even said he stayed up playing World of Warcraft for 54 straight hours. I can't even imaginge doing that or becoming so consumed with one thing that you could do it for 54 straight hours like it's no big deal. Another guy was 15 years old in korea and he was addicting to games, he has a decrease in his health including ringing in his ear, his eye sight became worse, and he developed more cavities from not brushing his teeth. His mother said he doesn't even shower on the weekends, he just plays computer games. It's interesting to me because researchers say that only 15-20% of the 90% of people that are online are addicted. They say that most of them are just depressed and this is the depression manifesting itself. There was a story about a guy who recently was fired form his job and instead of going to find another job he stayed home and played World of Warcraft and started playing so often he didn't leave his house because he was like the head of soem huge somethign of anotehr and he got to help people who were confused or needed help with anythign in the game and he felt like he had some sort of power. I can understand why a person would want to be ina virtual world thatwas way better than their own lives. -Irma
-I think that it is really amazing how memories can be triggered with the virtual reality programs that people have developed. It is also really cool that simple things like the time of day or the weather or even what you smell can be re-created and re-enacted using virtual reality. The fact that these programs were developed to help treat PTSD is really interesting to me.
-Internet addictions seem like they are not that big of a deal, but now I know that they can be just as bad as any other addiction. The Korean centers that help treat these addictions are a great idea and I think that they should start more of them in the US because our youth probably has just as big of a problem with internet addictions as other countries.
-Second lives are so much easier to have with web 2.0, especially with the type of people who don't have self confidence or self esteem. The internet is a judgement free zone (for the most part), and also totally anonymous and because of this, someone who lives as a very shy person in reality might go online and live a totally different virtual life on the web. The size and amount of diversity in the internet is the reason that this is possible.
--Katherine C.
I think that most interesting thing that i learned from this is that so many people can use the internet to help them get through a really tough time. But the most shocking thing was that kids were getting addicted to just using the computer although using it for online video games was the main purpose why they were using it. I also was really surprised that they had a "rehab” for kids or teenagers that were at a high risk for getting addicted to using the computer everyday for these types of things. Another thing that I found interesting was that the in a “virtual world” you can train soldiers for the war and they already have a sense of what it is because they have played video games that are about the war, Using this technology is so AMAZING, because you really don’t have to leave your home just to get a sense of what the war is like. Yes if you were really interested in being in the military you would have to go for training, but knowing that you have some spec of knowledge already about what you have to do and stuff is just incredible to me.- colina1 ~colina
Questions & Comments
Please pose at least one question and respond to at least one question aboutDigital Nation: Virtual Worlds.
PUT YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS HERE
So is there a problem with Virtual Worlds if they are basically another "real" social group in which we interact with?
With our brain processing Virtual experiences as if they were real experiences, what effect do you think that will have with young children today and their perception of "reality"?
Interesting Ideas
What were the most interesting ideas you discovered in Digital Nation: Virtual Worlds ?Why did these resonate with you?
PUT YOUR INTERESTING IDEAS HERE
INTERESTING IDEA & WHY IT'S INTERESTING TO ME
-I think that it is really amazing how memories can be triggered with the virtual reality programs that people have developed. It is also really cool that simple things like the time of day or the weather or even what you smell can be re-created and re-enacted using virtual reality. The fact that these programs were developed to help treat PTSD is really interesting to me.
-Internet addictions seem like they are not that big of a deal, but now I know that they can be just as bad as any other addiction. The Korean centers that help treat these addictions are a great idea and I think that they should start more of them in the US because our youth probably has just as big of a problem with internet addictions as other countries.
-Second lives are so much easier to have with web 2.0, especially with the type of people who don't have self confidence or self esteem. The internet is a judgement free zone (for the most part), and also totally anonymous and because of this, someone who lives as a very shy person in reality might go online and live a totally different virtual life on the web. The size and amount of diversity in the internet is the reason that this is possible.
--Katherine C.
I think that most interesting thing that i learned from this is that so many people can use the internet to help them get through a really tough time. But the most shocking thing was that kids were getting addicted to just using the computer although using it for online video games was the main purpose why they were using it. I also was really surprised that they had a "rehab” for kids or teenagers that were at a high risk for getting addicted to using the computer everyday for these types of things. Another thing that I found interesting was that the in a “virtual world” you can train soldiers for the war and they already have a sense of what it is because they have played video games that are about the war, Using this technology is so AMAZING, because you really don’t have to leave your home just to get a sense of what the war is like. Yes if you were really interested in being in the military you would have to go for training, but knowing that you have some spec of knowledge already about what you have to do and stuff is just incredible to me.-
Questions & Comments
Please pose at least one question and respond to at least one question about Digital Nation: Virtual Worlds .
PUT YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS HERE
So is there a problem with Virtual Worlds if they are basically another "real" social group in which we interact with?
With our brain processing Virtual experiences as if they were real experiences, what effect do you think that will have with young children today and their perception of "reality"?
Does "reality" even exist anymore?